Thursday, October 31, 2019

The Second World War and the United States Involvement Article

The Second World War and the United States Involvement - Article Example However, the events that followed put the country's interests at stake on several quarters. In Europe, Germany's expansion plan threatened the power balance in the region. Japan was on a similar track in Asia and this directly affected the United States' interests. When Great Britain and France declared war against Germany in 1939, the United States felt compelled to supply arms to these allies as a step to contain Germany's advancement in the western hemisphere: Hitler's empire was now larger than Napoleon's, and his power was absolute. On land he was strong enough to launch offensives in four directions simultaneously; at sea, his three hundred U-boats were strangling Britain's lifelines. Only the consecration of embattled Britain stood between him and absolute mastery of Europe- unless the United States intervened. (Manchester, 219.) The turning point that brought about the active involvement of the United States in the War was the attack of Pearl Harbor by Japan. For several years, the United States and Japan had been on a collision course over issues related to Asia. On 7 December 1941, Japanese forces struck at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The unexpected strike caused the loss of many lives and severe damage to the air force and naval systems based there. The attack brought about a decisive turn in the mindset of Americans about the role of the US in the war. "Now the country was united as it had never been. The sneak attack, the presence of two Japanese ambassadors in Washington pretending to negotiate peace, and an old distrust of what some still called the Yellow Peril combined to transform the war into a crusade against treacherous Orientals."(Manchester, 257) Soon after the United States launched an offensive against Japan, Germany and Italy joined on the side of Japan and declared war against the United States. The war in Europe was over on 7 May 1945 when Germany surrendered. Japan was crushed stage by stage under the leadership of General MacArthur and Admiral Chester Nimitz. The final blow came with the dropping of nuclear bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 8 August 1945 respectively. The war prompted the country to consider forming a body of nations to protect the peace of the world. The United Nations was formed in 1945, with the United States, Soviet Union, Great Britain, China, and France as the permanent members of the Security Council.

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne and the Holocaust Essay Example for Free

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne and the Holocaust Essay Author John Boyne published his infamous novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. John Boyne was born in Dublin, Ireland. Boyne attended Trinity College in Dublin where he first studied English Literature and then proceeded to the University of East Anglia in Norwich where he then studied creative writing. He began his published writing career in the year two-thousand with his first published book The Thief of Time. Though The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas separates itself from Boyne’s traditional style of writing by having being written for a younger audience, it was the book that took John Boyne’s career to the successful point it is now at. Using his father’s date of birth as the same for both Shmuel and Bruno, Boyne could further relate the two boys to a familiar story. Demonstrating the truly catastrophic events of the Holocaust in a fictional novel, Boyne captures the torment that two young boys face in a time where their innocence is taken away by one of the most evil acts of humanity. The Holocaust caused the lives of six million Jews to be lost, and the faith of the survivors. The Nazi Germans called this systematic mass killing â€Å"the final solution to the Jewish question. † In nineteen-thirty-three, Anti-Semitism reached its’ peak in Germany â€Å"†¦destruction, which was launched with torchlight parades and accented by speeches that proclaimed the death of Jewish intellectualism and the purification of German culture. Thus, writings by such Jewish intellectuals as Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud fueled the huge bonfires. Also engulfed in flames was the work of Heinrich Heine, a German poet of Jewish origin. A century earlier Heine had stated, Where books are burned, in the end people will be burned. †¦. his statement would become [true], specifically for the European Jews who found themselves under Nazi domination during the Third Reich. † (The Holocaust Chronicles 53) By July of nineteen-thirty-three, twenty-five thousand Jews amongst other â€Å"unfit† German citizens had been sent to concentration camps or jail. Democracy in Germany had disappeared under Adolf Hitler’s new command with the Nazi Party being the only legal political party. Hitler began a propaganda that the Jew was a threat to the German race, unequal, and inferior, that it must be eliminated in order to restore the power lost during and after the First World War Jewish businesses were boycotted, German citizens began discriminating Jews, physically harming them and humiliating them. Later, German Nazis demanded that all non-Aryan subjects shall retire, â€Å"†¦any person who had a Jewish parent or grandparent was non-Aryan. † (54) The Jews were then places in ghettos, where the living conditions were poor and a preview of their upcoming fate was shown. Forced to wear David’s star as an embroidered badge on their clothing to symbolize their faith, the Jews were publicly isolated for the German citizens to see and attack. This would’ve made many of the Jews feel ashamed and directed them to lose faith in the God they had previously loved and lived by, as that same faith in the religion was what caused their cruel misfortune. Religion is seen repeatedly in both Night by Elie Wiesel and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne. In Boyne’s work, the two main characters, Bruno and Shmuel, are two nine year old boys who are unfortunately wrapped up in the horrid events that took place during the years of the Holocaust. Bruno’s father is a high ranking officer working for the S. S during the period of the Nazi Party’s ruling in Germany. He doesn’t show clear understanding of what’s going on and what his father is doing, with help of constant deceit from his parents, his sister and instructor, Bruno still sees no difference between him and Shmuel, who is a Jewish prisoner of a concentration camp. Though there is no difference in the two boys, society, family and religion tells them otherwise, and yet their friendship is unbreakable. â€Å"We’re not supposed to be friends, you and me. We’re supposed to be enemies, did you know that? † (The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas 118) Having been disciplined by society to believe in a concept of inequality between the pure German race and the Jewish people, the friendship between Bruno and Shmuel becomes a significantly touching plot, not in the sense that it shouldn’t or couldn’t be, but in a way that demonstrates the innocence that adults tried to deprive from their children, and the loving bond that brings two boys who are meant enemies together, it makes them equal. Religion isn’t understood, hatred isn’t understood and evil acts are not understood; for once, the naive minds of innocence that cannot understand the plot Hitler formed are perfectly right by the similarity of not understanding their nonexistent â€Å"differences. † Both the real events of World War II and the fictional events within the novel feature a lot of deceit. Propaganda was used by the governments of every country involved in the war as well as within Germany against the Jews. This form of subtle manipulation was successful as it used citizens’ issues and fears to provide an excuse for the events occurring. Hitler used slogans and made powerful speeches throughout his dictatorship that convinced the Germans to believe that the Jewish people really were a threat that Germany had to repel. By blaming their economical issues on the Jews, the Germans had more of a reason to desire the exeunt of their race entirely. â€Å"’Propaganda tries to force a doctrine on the whole people Propaganda works on the general public from the standpoint of an idea and makes them ripe for the victory of this idea. ’ Adolf Hitler wrote these words in his book Mein Kampf, in which he first advocated the use of propaganda to spread the ideals of National Socialism among them racism, antisemitism,. ( http://www. ushmm. org ) The novel also shows a pattern of deceit, where Bruno is lied to by his parents when he asks what is behind the fence. Bruno also lies when he denies knowing Shmuel, an act of fear that resurfaces the idea that he is still a child with no desire to be punished. Deceit is a tendency that was believed to be necessary by the furor, Adolf Hitler, in order to proceed with the Final Solution while having his citizens and the rest of the world blind, as they believed his idea was only beneficial to Germany. Hitler and the Nazi Party would have not succeeded had they always been truthful to not only the people within their own borders, but the people outside of them too. It was necessary to deceit in order to succeed, or what he planned to be a success. In Bruno’s case, that same deceit provided him with the loyalty and love to Shmuel to be his friend until death. The accounted Jewish casualties that took place under the furor, Adolf Hitler and commander Heimrich Himmler are an approximate six million, completely exterminating the trace of each and every Jewish family in Germany, for even those who survived left immediately after the Russians set them free from the concentration camps in nineteen-forty-five. Survivors who have testimonies of their experience in the camps, the ghettos, and those who escaped still try to make sense of what happened in the twelve year long battle for survival. Emotionally, they have wounds that will never fully heal over. Mentally, they withhold memories that could only be imagined as the most vivid of nightmares to those of us who didn’t live through the terrorizing events. Spiritually, they are finally free to believe, if they can and most do. They speak of the Holocaust as a test from God, another reason to show their faith to the world. Eliezer Wiesel said in Night, â€Å"That I survived the Holocaust and went on to love beautiful girls, to talk, to write and to have toast and tea and live my life – that is what is abnormal. † Evidently, families were lost and lives were separated, an emotional devastation that one may never come to comprehend. In both of the works, family is demonstrated to be a significant factor. Elie, in Night, speaks fondly of the love for his father and the absolute loss of himself after the loss of his father. In The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Bruno’s mother reveals a love for her family so deep that she becomes despaired with the facts of her husband’s work. Shmuel sacrifices himself, at the side of his best friend, Bruno, to find his father and endanger his own life to save one of a family members’. This was the case for each person who died and survived the Holocaust. â€Å"If we bear all this suffering and if there are still Jews left, when it is over, then Jews, instead of being doomed, will be held up as an example. † (Anne Frank)

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Acting And Facial Expression In Animation

Acting And Facial Expression In Animation Our body never stop moving, no matter we are sitting, taking a rest or sleeping, our body and face keep doing different actions even it is small and unobtrusive. We have many different actions in our daily life. We can obtain different messages in these actions. For example humans feelings, characters, health, signal from others or even read peoples mind. There is so much information covert in acting and facial expression, but what about in animation? Animation started with no dialog and sound. To define animation, it imitates everything move in reality word, it can also create some things does not exist and even impossible by your imagination. To create a good animation, you need to study everything which can move no matter it is organic or inorganic. Also the speed of different objects: Speed up, slow down and the rhythm. That is the basic animation sense. Aim This study is concerned with a communication that beyond dialog in animation Acting and Facial Expression. Acting means all action, body language and facial expression. Animators always use them to present characters personality and the story in animation. The reason I choose acting and facial expression is because it is an international language in communication. Animation is always present with dialog, especially in long animation. Sometimes, facial expression and some small actions can express more messages to the audience and to deliver it faster than dialog. Without dialog, audience will focus on characters action and facial expression, it provides audience with more imagination and better in accordance with the animation significance. I will not say acting and facial expression can replace dialog, but I am going to prove that they are the better tools to communicate with audience in animation. Research Method The topic is closely related with my area of practice 3D animation. It is useful for me to produce and learn animation. From the research in this study, I can obtain more knowledge in human anatomy and the meaning and message in different action. These can support me to produce a more professional animation and improve my animation skills. I am going to research different animations, movies, television commercial which without dialog, to disassemble their script, characters acting and camera design, especially with the reference Tom and Jerry. In the other hand, I will compare them with some movies and animations which with dialog, for example: Ted, Mr. Bean and Pixars animations. Also I will research books about body language, facial expression and animation theory to support my study. Structure In my dissertation, I am going to divide it into five parts. After introduction, it is a chapter about acting in animation. I will start to define what are acting and body language first, to establish a basic knowledge with them. Second I will find out the relationship between acting and characters, storytelling and music. It is a very important part to research how acting affects these elements in animation. Third I will find out how animators animate inorganic things, how can acting gives them life and personality. Finally, I will have a case study of Tom and Jerry to research the relationship of acting and dialog, also compare their impact. In the next chapter facial expression in animation, I will research what is facial expression and how it talks. There are more than thousands facial expression we have, but what do they means? Can they show our minds? Besides, I will find out the relationship between facial expression and characters and storytelling. In chapter four communication beyond dialog, after studying acting and facial expression. I am going to find out what the impacts of dialog in communication are and compare it with acting and facial expression. Then I will prove how acting and facial expression give imaginations and demonstrate how they communicate with audience. Finally, I will find out in animation, are acting and facial expression an aid, strengthen or a necessary elements? And the final chapter is a summary. 2. Acting and Facial Expression 2.1. Acting and body language We express ourselves, communicate to others, show others our minds and ideas through action. Also, we always try to obtain and understand different meanings or messages through other peoples action, even our pets and other animals. Acting means all actions created by living things, a strong action can communicate a lot. To research actions, I start to study the nature of actions and I find out there are five basic actions we have since we are born inborn actions, discovered actions, absorbed actions, trained actions and mixed actions. When we are a baby, we already have our instinctive actions. A baby knows how to smile and suckle mothers breast to get food, even they never saw them before. These are inborn actions. Discovered actions mean we discover them from ourselves through our experience and our environment. People cross their arms or legs in the world, it helps us to keep warm, take a rest or protect ourselves. There is also an example of discovered actions sex. Absorbed actions are the actions we learn and copy from others. In a society, we want to get into a group no matter we are studying or working. We try to imitate their actions and the words they use. For trained actions, we need to practice and teach by the others, like swimming, dancing and cycling. Finally, mixed actions are special, we push further and mix the actions we learnt by discovering and studying new things. When we communicate to others, dialog is not the only way. Actions show our background, character and our inner thoughts. We can deliver messages to others, it is a body language. Body language is the earliest language we know, everyone know how to use it. We cry to draw our parents attention when we are a baby. We use body language everyday even sometimes we did not realize them. Following different peoples research, we can now discover many secret of our body and how they talks. For examples our body angles, body shift and when we touch ourselves. There are too many body languages and I cannot cover them all, but I am going to find them out in different animations and movies, see how those animators use them to create their characters and story. 2.2. Facial expression Acting means all body languages and facial expressions. Besides the research on acting, I want to analysis facial expression individually, because it is a main tool to communicate beside body language. We have come to know the face so well because it is so important to us; in fact, it is the center of our entire emotional life. From birth to death, the face links us to friends, to family, to everyone meaningful to us. (Gary Faigin, 1990s). Facial expression is the motion of our face muscles under the skin. There are many emotions we have and we always express them by different movement of our facial features. We less expressed our emotion by only use one facial features, it always comes up with mix. Do facial expressions universally recognizable? By Paul Ekman, he researched that there are six categories of facial expression are certain universal: sadness, anger, joy, fear, disgust and surprise. We can find these faces every day on the people we meet, but how much can we tell from our face? 2.3. How facial expression talks? This research will not cover all categories of facial expression, but I will analysis some of them which appear in animation and our daily life. On our face, eyes and mouth are the facial features that have the most movable range. Other than ears and nose, sometimes they can convey emotions individually. As the research of eyes, our eyes movement and angles have different messages in them, different angles show our feelings and thinking. Combine with our eyebrows, they can have so many changes. When we communicate to others, like we speak with our friends, colleagues or even in an interview, eye contacts become a very important tool. With our words, a firm eye contact can display our confidence, fascination, serious and respect. Opposite, hesitancy and unstable eyes will show that we are nervous and inattentive. It has the same effect when we listen to others. We will also use our eyes to give signal to others. For example: in a situation which we cannot speak or in a basketball game, eyes used to show our feelings or to direct others. In animation, we can only obtain messages from the image, we do not understanding the environment sometimes. Characters eyes will become the director for the audience in this moment. Certainly, eyes are the tool to show characters status like tired. Mouth is a special feature, besides eat and speak, it is the best facial feature to present joy. We can find joy or sadness for peoples mouth easily, but what else? When we feel nervous, uncomfortable and scare, we always tighten up our lips, it can let us relieve some of our pressure. And when we feel disgust, we will distort our lips, but everyone has different shape in this, it is always appear in comedy. Apart from that, a sinister smile is always a good characteristic for creating a bad character. After research on our facial features, I go on to find out more relationship of facial expression and animation. 3. Acting and Facial Expression in Animation 3.1. Acting with characters, storytelling and music In an animation, we receive messages from different elements such as characters, storytelling and music, but what are their relationships with acting. With the characters outlook, we can obtain much information of him, her or it- age, sex, work, power and physique. These are the basic information, but acting can gives more or makes different. For example: characters personality, attitude, status, ability and experience. Acting also shows the forces of gravity of the world in the story through characters movement. I found a short animation as examples One more beer! to show how acting and body language influence characters. In One more beer, it is a very short animation and only has one character, one scene and one camera. In the beginning, a man that looks big, boorish and strong sits down in the bar. He gives a fierce face and asks for something. We notice that he is a fierce man and want a big cup of beer immediately, but the bartender gives him a small cup and pink colours beer. The fierce man gets angry, the bartender gives him a small umbrella and put it in the beer. At that time, the fierce man change to a naive man and drinks that small beer like a child. A big man and a small pink beer form a big contrast. Audience got cheated from his outlook in the beginning, thought that he must reject that small beer. However, he loves that. All of these are depend on acting. Dont just do something, story is the difference between animating a character walking across the room, and having it walk the last mile to the electric chair. The story context will affect the way a character moves, acts and talks. (Nancy Beiman, Animated Performance, Page 4). Undoubtedly, acting and story influence each other in every animation. It delivers messages to audience. Sometimes a small action can leave thread or cheat audience. Also, acting can shows characters feelings, emotion and the relationship between characters. To research storytelling and acting, I found an animation Defective Detective. It does not have dialog, but it is good at storytelling. The main characters of this animation are a detective and an old woman. The detective is a hero of the city, but he is trouble in a case with a butcher. One night, he finds something wrong on his upstairs. He thinks that is the butcher, and the butcher is hurting the old woman. He clamps up and wants to shot down the butcher, but finally it is just his misunderstanding. The animation shows the situation of the detective and the old woman parallel, they have not seen each other until the end. The old women are just cooking tomato soups, but the detective thinks that the butcher are killing her, it is all come from his fantasy only. The animator use 2D animation to express his fantasy, we can find that the detective are stupid and impulsive. The most interesting and meaningful part I think is the end and I want to explain those small actions in detail. In the end, they drink the soup together, but someone scream from outside again. The detective stands up and pick up his gun to show he wants to help. However the old woman uses the spoon hit his hand and point to the chair, these actions mean she told him to sit down and do not get misunderstanding anymore. He sits down immediately and shake his hand and drink a spoon of soup, to show her do not worry and he will listen to her. In the final shot, he takes a look of outside, it shows that he still confusing. This time he is right, there are many crimes happening in the building. It is very meaningful in just these few seconds, the animator is good at acting and storytelling. Other than characters and storytelling, the relationship of acting and music is more special. Acting always follows the rhythm of the music, especially in animations which do not have dialog. Acting can strengthen and bring out the feelings of the music, and music can also strengthen characters emotion and acting. Both of them can be the lead. The most famous example is Fantasia from Disney. In Fantasia, there are seven animations in this film and this film created three relationships of music and animation. First kind, it use music to tells a define story. Second kind, it is no specific plot but just follow the rhythm and create the image. Third kind, to create an animation that exists for the music. The most famous part of Fantasia is The Sorcerers Apprentice. It only uses the original music for the animation, no any sound effects and dialog. It is just like a visual music concert. 3.2. Facial expression with characters and storytelling Facial expression is an important element to help a character to create its personality and express their emotions. For me, a character which has the richest facial expression and most impressive, he must be Mr. Bean Rowan Atkinson. He is not an animation character, but he is a really special performer which good at impress on acting. In 2002, Mr. Bean came up with an animated television series. It is based on the live action series of the same name and it is a minority example. Why Mr. Bean can success? I am going to find out some reasons with it. Mr. Bean is a comedy written and starring by Rowan Atkinson. Rowan Atkinson created Mr. Bean and described him as A child in a grown mans body. Bean less speaks, he always uses his body languages and facial expressions to convey himself. Sometimes he will speak something people do not understand, but within his voice tone and acting we can find out what he tries to present. He spends a lot of time with his best friend Teddy (A bear toy) and he helps Teddy to act. In both live action and animated series, Mr. Bean is a story around Beans daily life and some interesting incident. To describe Rowan Atkinsons face, he has big, clear and significant facial features. Also, combine with his changeable facial expressions, it impress on audience mind. In Mr. Bean animation, animators keep Beans characteristics and style. They even enlarge his facial features and exaggerate his acting. It shows that acting and facial expressions are identity of Mr. Bean. In the same time, that is one of a big r eason why Mr. Bean success. To research on the relationship between facial expression and storytelling, I found a special example Kuleshov Effect. It is a montage film editing effect and discovered by Lev Kuleshov which is a Russian filmmaker. It is an experiment to create reaction with editing, Lev Kuleshov wants to test if a face with no expression and fill in different objects or environment, what will audience think? He made a short movie with six shots. Also, he found three shots with different environment and put the same shot with one actor in front of them. The actors name is Ivan Mozzhukhin, he actually looking at nothing, he does not know what will they edit to when they are shooting at him. He did not express any emotion and that is what Lev Kuleshov wants, we cannot see any emotion on Ivan Mozzhukhin by only watching his face. Audience can only base on the environment along to infer his emotion. The viewers will think that the actor has different reactions and emotions, but actually they come from our own minds. We will admire the actors acting and do not realize it is affected by the scene. So does it mean facial expression is not important? Just the opposite, in Kuleshov Effect, audience will obtain different emotions of the actor only by their experience and imaginations. This effect just right to tell us where are the source of message that received by audience. Within facial expression and storytelling, audience can receive the messages exactly from the creator and understand the inter-relationships between characters. 4. Animation Comedy You get to be an impish God. You get to reform the world. You get to take the piss out of it. You turn it upside down, inside out. You bug out eyes. You put moustaches on Mona Lisas. You change the world and have for a brief moment a bit of control over it. At least you get to humiliate it for a moment, and thats what all cartoonists get their kicks from! (Paul Wells, interview in February 1995) Paul Wells described how to create a comedy. In creating comedy, we can become a naughty god and change the world to whatever we want. Comedy is a tool for people to relax and release their pressure from a custumal world. We must break and challenge the rules. After the initial study of Mr. Bean, I go on to research on animation comedy. I want to know more about how acting and facial expression influences animation comedy. 4.1. Case study Tom and Jerry Tom and Jerry is a famous animation start from 1940s, every chapter is short but expressing a story individually. It is just a story start from a cat and a mouse, but why can it success and enduring to show? With the research in last part, I start to analysis Tom and Jerry. Cats chasing mouse, everyone knows it, because it is the natural instinct of cats. It is a good and simple design in characters and story. However in Tom and Jerry, people always want Jerry wins and he does in the story. I think the reason is because their personality and relationships, it express from their acting. Tom is an arrogance cat and to be opinionated, he always thinks that he is the one. Jerry is cunning, but it is stems from the need for self-preservation, He is a kind mouse and always saves others who Tom is bullying. Tom always thinks he is the clever one and bully others, Jerry always takes him down because he is the real clever one. We will love to see this because to take down someone who is arrogance and to be opinionated is funny, as we want to do that in our reality society. Sometimes they are enemy, sometimes they are friend when they are facing difficulty or having the same enemy. We love to see that too. Storytelling is a big reason that why Tom and Jerry success. They have many reasons to fight in every chapter, not just about cats chasing mouse. Sometimes it is because Tom is hungry, the order from Toms master, revenge, misunderstanding, they want the same thing, enjoy to torture others or the third person get involved. Tom and Jerry less using dialog, it will be only used in they must need it to express or describe story to audience. Acting becomes the only way to communicate with audience. The master of Tom is a character who always have dialog, it is always used by the third person or radio too, Tom and Jerry almost do not talk. We can always find many exaggerated and violent acting in Tom and Jerry. Everything around the environment can be their weapons: tables, chairs, dishes, planks sometimes they even use guns, bombs and poisons. These become the way to attract audience and make them laugh, also the signature of Tom and Jerry. Music is an important character in Tom and Jerry too, it is always used to strengthen acting and deliver their emotions. Music can increase the atmosphere of comedy with the big contrast, for example: a classic music and an obtuse cat. In some case, Tom and Jerrys body will become a music instrument and play music with their acting. You can also find some chapters which are base on music to create their story. All of these are the basic analysis of Tom and Jerry. I also want to describe some examples which are impressive and creative to see how it has good use of acting. In Puss and Boats, Tom is a mariner. The story starts from Toms ship laying down their commodity. There is a big box of cheeses with a gap. In this time, Jerry is sleeping, but the smell of cheese becomes a hand and flies to find him. The hand removes Jerry from the bed and opens his eye, but Jerry is still sleeping and the picture in his eyeball shows he is eating a cheese. It shows Jerry is eating a cheese in his dream, and it is a special skill by using facial expression. Then, the hand wakes him up and shows him where are the cheese. When Jerry gets ready to get it, the hand stop him and point to somewhere because Tom is nearing there to protect those commodity. The acting of the hand is not just expressing the smell of cheese, it is only use useful to Jerry and only he can see this, because mice love cheese. The hand shows the natural of mouse, to find cheese and be careful with cats. The animator use a hand to present the relationship of cheese, mouse and cat, not just shows Je rry smell cheese and wake up. It is creative and well use on acting with character and storytelling. In a short section of Mice Follies, Tom is chasing Jerry and his friend in a small indoor skating rink. When Tom try to stop and catch them, he keeping slipping in the same place because of the ice. He keeps increasing his speed to move but still cannot move on. Coordinate with his acting, is a fast beat drums hit. With this situation, it created a very funny image. That is more effective by only using acting to present. It is a common comedy skill we can always find in Tom and Jerry. To describe other example of music in Tom and Jerry, I found The Cat Concerto. In this chapter, Tom is a pianist. He woke up Jerry when he was playing piano in a concert. Then they start to fight. The story is totally following the music to develop. In the whole animation, they never stop playing the piano while they are fighting. Even Tom gets hurt or stop to play, Jerry will keep playing to keep the concerto go on. Every part of the piano becomes their battlefield. Every time the music starts rapidly, they will have a strong conflict. It is a really accurate story design, the animator use music to imagine the story. Even a shears become a music instrument, Jerry want to cut Toms finger when he is playing piano. However, Tom hides it, the sounds of shears merges with the music. Finally, Jerry plays the piano from its inside to try to push Tom to follow it. Tom exhausts all his effort to follow, but his formal dress is totally rotten. In the end, Jerry wears a formal dress to curtain call. That presented a cat chasing mouse story with a very interesting and creative way. At the same time, it is a good example how acting cooperate To summarize, Tom and Jerry is an impressive and successful animation which use acting and the elements of animation effectively. It is a good example to shows us the importance of acting in animation. 5. Communication beyond dialog 5.1. Dialog in communication Actions speak louder than words, When we communicate only 7 per cent of the communication depends on verbal communication and the rest goes towards the non verbal communication. Of the 93 per cent- 38 percent is for voice modulation and 55 per cent is for body language.(ProfessorÂÂ  M. S. Rao, Soft Skills Enhancing Employability: Connecting Campus with Corporate, Page14). 6. Conclusions

Friday, October 25, 2019

Smallpox Viruses Essay -- Smallpox Viruses

For approximately three-thousand years, smallpox has ravaged and plagued the four corners of the globe. In fact, in the 17 th and 18 th centuries, it was claimed to be the most infectious disease in the West, with an astounding 90% mortality rate in America. It wasn't until 1796, with English surgeon Edward Jenner's smallpox vaccination, that the world saw relief from this devastating virus. However, even with this inoculation in use, the world continued to witness death from both the virus and the vaccine. In the year 1966, it was estimated that 10-15 million infected citizens world wide had passed away from smallpox that year alone ( â€Å"History† 12). As a result of these devastating numbers, in the following year, 1967, the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) created a program to eradicate the smallpox virus. Ten years later, in 1977, the estimated 10-15 million cases had dwindled down to one; a man in Somalia. Three years later, W.H.O. officially announced that smallpox h ad been eradicated, leaving the only remaining virus cultures stored and guarded in laboratories in Russia and the United States. Inoculations ceased, smallpox epidemics were non-existent, and the virus was no longer a concern. In order to ensure complete eradication of this deadly virus, the W.H.O. insisted that the remaining smallpox cultures be destroyed by 1999 ( â€Å"Smallpox Eradication† 2). However, despite the W.H.O.'s recommendation, the remaining cultures continue to be contained and protected to this day, five years after the suggested date of elimination. As a direct result, a world-wide debate has raged on for nearly the past decade posing the question of smallpox eradication. If small pox were to be eradicated as originally suggested, the safe and only remaining known cultures would be wiped out. However, not knowing what countries may illegally hold this virus, the world as a whole would be vulnerable to bioterrorist attacks using smallpox. Lacking the virus to create inoculations, it will be virtually impossible to vaccinate the public or quarantine an outbreak. Likewise, if the virus cultures are kept, there is a possibility that enemies could obtain it to use against other countries at their leisure. However, because it is impossible to identify countries that are harboring the virus in order to take action to eradicate it, eliminating the only protection the world has again... ...6 Nov. 2014 Mahler, Halfdan. â€Å"Smallpox and its Eradication.† 2008. Communicable Disease Surveillance and Response. 4 Nov. 2014 McCrary, Van. â€Å"Smallpox and Bioterrorism: A Growing Threat.† 3 Aug. 1999. 6 Nov. 2014 Preston, Richard. â€Å"A Demon in the Freezer.† 17 July 2012. 8 Nov. 2014 â€Å"Smallpox and Bioterrorism† 6 June 2001. Center for Disease Control. 4 Nov. 2014. â€Å"Smallpox Eradication: Destrcution of the Variola Virus Stocks.† 15 April 2009. World Health Organization. 15 Nov. 2014 Updated Interim CDC Guidance for Use of Smallpox Vaccine, Cidofovir, and Vaccinia Immune Globulin (VIG) for Prevention and Treatment in the Setting of an Outbreak of Monkeypox Infections.† 25 June 2013. Center for Disease Control 20 Nov. 2014.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Great Memory

Memory†¦ is the diary that we all carry about with us† is a quote by Oscar Wilde that in my personal opinion describes memory pretty well. Memory is something that people carry with them all the time. It is a powerful thing and something that most people never want to lose. In some cases memories can be of something good or they can also be a bad memory. It all depends on how you want to remember it. Samuel Taylor Coleridge talks about memory in one of his poems he wrote called â€Å"Frost at Midnight. † Also there is talk about memory in â€Å"Ode to the West Wind† written byPercy Bysshe Shelly. Both of these poems show how the authors are using their memories to write the pomes. Both writers talk about a memory they have and they tell a story using it. Coleridge talks about how he feels now and reflects to how he felt as a child while raising his own child. Shelly talks about how he wishes he felt different now and how he wants to feel like he did when he w as young. Both authors I think are sort of depressed. In their poems the tone is kind of melancholy and sad. In â€Å"Frost at Midnight† it is winter time hence the name.And in the winter is when he feels lonelier. The author lives in a cottage and it is very late at night. In the poem he talks about it being so quite. In the poem he says â€Å"The inmates of my cottage, all at rest. Have lett me to that solitude, which suits abstract musings: save that at my side my cradled infant slumbers peacefully' (as cited in Damrosch, 2004, p. 344). Everyone is asleep even his child is sound asleep; he is the only one up. And he is starting to feel lonely with all the stillness. The only other thing that is up is a piece of soot in the fire place.As Coleridge says in the poem â€Å"Only that film, which fluttered on the rate, still flutters there, the sole unquiet thing. Great Memory 3 Methinks, its motion in this hush nature gives it dim sympathies with me who live, making it a comp anionable form† (p. 344). This piece of â€Å"film† or soot makes him think back to his childhood. This is where the memory part comes into play. He is thinking back to his child hood. He is thinking about his birthplace, the old church-tower, and the bells of the poor man and thinking about this is making him homesick. Then he talks about how he was a lonely child.In the poem he says â€Å"save if the door half opened, and I natched a hasty glance , and still my heart leaped up, for still I hoped to see the stranger's face, townsman, or aunt, or sister, more beloved, my playmate when we both were clothed alike† (p. 344). This is when I think that the author is most depressed in this poem. Reflecting back to his childhood makes him sad and feel lonely. Reflecting back on his childhood and how he felt that loneliness he talks later on about how he wants better for his child. He doesn't want his kid to feel the emptiness and loneliness that he is feeling and has fe lt as a child.He says â€Å"but thou, my babe! Shalt wander like a breeze by lakes and sandy shores, beneath the crags of ancient mountain, beneath the clouds, which image in their bulk both lakes and shores and mountain crags: so shalt thou see and hear the lovely shapes and sounds intelligible of that eternal language† (p. 345). He wants his child to have better childhood than he did. He wants his child to have more and be better than he was a child. He says that he wants all seasons to be sweet for his child. In this poem he uses his 4 memory to tell a story and he was as a child and how he doesn't was his child to row up feeling like he did as a kid.In â€Å"Ode to the West Wind† Percy Shelly is talking about a storm that is going to hit. In this poem he talks about being weighed down and he wants to be free again. And he feels like this storm will do that for him. In this poem he wants the wind to inspire him to write poetry, and wants new thoughts. The writer doe sn't even care that this storm is going to hit. He is welcoming it with open arms. The wind is blowing the leaves and clouds and is blowing over the ocean. He wants to be the wind. Memory is talked about in this poem when the talks about how he wants to be ree again.He wants to feel Joy and emotion again. He feels like this storm can do that for him that's why he wants it to come. In the poem he says â€Å"The impulse of thy strength, only less free than thou, o uncontrollable! If even I were as in my boyhood, and could be free the comrade of thy wanderings over heaven, as then, when to outstrip the skiey speed scarce seemed a vision, I would ne'er have striven† (as cited in Damrosch, 2004, p. 401). This says if he was in his boyhood he would be free and as an adult he is not. So that is why he refers to going back to his childhood to be ree again. His childh memory is a g one.And as ne got older ne teels like ne isn't free and wants a free spirit. I think his tone in this is also sad. But when he talks about his boyhood I think he is feeling better. In both of these poem that I discussed go back to a memory. But however, both of the memories are different. In Coleridge's â€Å"Frost at Midnight† the memory he refers to is sad and Great Memory 5 not one that a person wants to remember. He talks about how lonely he was as a child how he hoped he would see someone he knows while he was at school. Every ay he hoped that he would see someone threw the window that he would know.And he hoped that his child would never feel like this. He wanted to make sure his child had better and felt better than he did. In Percy Shellys â€Å"Ode to the West Wind† the memory also goes back to his childhood, but in this poem his childhood was a good time. In this poem he talks about how he wished he was back in his boyhood because was free then. As an adult he doesn't feel free, he feels weighed down. That's why he wants to storm to come he feels it will make h im feel something again. This memory is a happy one. One that a person would want to remember, not like the one is Coleridge's â€Å"Frost as Midnight. In both of these poems I think that there is a common theme of emotion and nature. Both of them describe how they are feeling. One is lonely and one feels no joy. But they both use nature to describe it. Coleridge uses the winter and the frost. And Shelly uses the big storm that is about to his to describe how he feels in the poem. With both of these poem is shows that a memory is not always good or bad, happy or sad. They can be both. And In the two poems I picked to write about the authors, Samuel Coleridge and Percy Shelly, talk about memorys they had.Both of them happen to be different. One is a happy memory and one that he wants to remember. And the other is one that is not so happy, more of a gloomy memory that he doesn't want to remember. Memories are what you make of them. You are the only person who can decide how they are going to be remembered. Great Memory 6 No one else can tell you how to feel or how to keep things in your memory. â€Å"Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things ou never want to lose – From the television show The Wonder Years† I think this is a perfect quote for memory.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

The Golden Lily Chapter 16

I WASTED NO TIME in getting the group together. This was big. I still didn't know the level of danger we were facing, but I refused to take any chances. I chose Clarence's house as a meeting spot, seeing as the hunters didn't know about it yet. It still made me nervous. I would've been nervous even if we'd been meeting in an Alchemist bunker. And apparently, â€Å"hunters† wasn't even the right term. According to their low-quality pamphlet, they called themselves â€Å"The Warriors of Light.† I wasn't sure they deserved that fancy title, especially since in their mission statement, they spelled â€Å"abyss† as â€Å"abiss.† The pamphlet was really very sparse, simply stating that there was an evil walking among humanity and that the Warriors were the force there to destroy it. They urged their fellow humans to be ready and stay pure. None of the vampires were mentioned by name, for which I was glad. The pamphlet also didn't mention much about any of the shared history they claimed to have with the Alchemists. Before we went to Clarence's, Eddie scoured Latte for any sort of tracking device. The very idea creeped me out, the same way being watched at Adrian's did. There was a feeling of violation to it all. It was only my lack of faith in their technology that made me feel somewhat better. â€Å"It seems unlikely they'd be that advanced,† I told Eddie, as he wiggled under the car. â€Å"I mean, that pamphlet looked like it had been made on a 1980s copy machine. I don't know if that's because they've had the pamphlets sitting around that long or if that's the actual machine they still use†¦ but regardless, they don't scream high tech to me.† â€Å"Maybe,† he agreed, voice slightly muffled. â€Å"But we can't take any chances. We don't know what they're capable of. And for all we know, they're trying to hook up with the Alchemists to score technology.† Chills ran through me. It was an outrageous thought: that the Alchemists and this violent fringe group could be related. It had been crazy when Adrian and I had speculated about it and was hard to accept even in the face of mounting evidence. At least now I had enough information to take to my superiors without being ridiculed. Even though I'd never heard of hunters like this, it seemed plausible that somewhere, at some point, they'd tried to connect with my organization. Hopefully someone in the Alchemists could help. Eddie scooted out from under Latte. â€Å"You're clean. Let's head out.† Jill and Angeline were waiting nearby, both tense and anxious. Jill gave Eddie an admiring smile. â€Å"I didn't know you knew how to do any of this. I never would have even thought about it.† He wiped sweat off his forehead. â€Å"You thought guardian training was all about hitting and kicking?† She flushed. â€Å"Pretty much, yeah.† â€Å"Can you tell me about some of this stuff sometime?† asked Angeline. â€Å"Seems like I should know it.† â€Å"Sure,† said Eddie, sounding like he meant it. She beamed. He'd been much easier around her ever since her attitude had become more serious and restrained. I think some of that good behavior had played a role in me getting permission for her to join us tonight. She was still technically on suspension, but I'd managed to get a special exemption on the grounds of our family's so-called religion. I'd used a similar excuse when Jill had been suspended last month, in order to take her to feedings. Even still, we were on very strict orders with Angeline tonight. She couldn't be out for more than two hours, and the price was adding an extra day of suspension to her sentence. We took an abnormal route to Clarence's, and Eddie watched behind us carefully, looking for any signs of pursuit. He tried to explain some of the things I needed to watch for when I was on my own. I was so nervous, I hardly heard. After a tense ride, we made it safely to Clarence's. There, we found Adrian already waiting for us. Dimitri had apparently been downtown earlier and picked Adrian up – no doubt taking all the same precautions Eddie had for travel. I'd given Eddie and Dimitri some of the info on the hunters, but everyone else required a more thorough explanation. We gathered in our usual spot, the formal living room, and Dimitri paced around the room, bracing for an attack at any moment. Clarence looked on from his chair with that typical distracted gaze. When I held up the pamphlet, however, he came to life. â€Å"That's them!† he cried. I thought he might actually spring up from the chair and rip the pamphlet from my hands. â€Å"Those are their symbols!† Most of the same alchemical symbols that had been on the sword were strewn across the pamphlet's front. â€Å"That circle. I remember that circle.† â€Å"The gold symbol,† I confirmed. â€Å"Or, I guess in their case, the sun symbol since they're so obsessed with light and dark.† Clarence looked around frantically. â€Å"They're back! We have to get out of here. I came to this city to escape them, but they've found me. We have no time. Where's Dorothy? Where's Lee? I must pack!† â€Å"Mr. Donahue,† I said, in as a gentle a tone as I could manage, â€Å"they don't know you're here. You're safe.† I didn't know if I believed that and hoped I was convincing. â€Å"She's right,† said Dimitri. â€Å"And even if they did, you know I wouldn't let them hurt you.† There was such confidence and strength in the way Dimitri spoke that I had a feeling that we'd believe him even if a group of Strigoi were invading, and he said, â€Å"It's fine, you're safe.† â€Å"If what you're saying is true,† said Sonya, â€Å"I'm the one that's in danger.† She seemed much calmer than I would be in that situation. â€Å"They're not going to hurt you either,† said Dimitri sharply. â€Å"Especially if you don't leave this house.† â€Å"The research – † she began. † – is nothing compared to your safety,† he finished. There was a look in his eyes that said he would tolerate no arguments. â€Å"You need to get back to Court. You were planning on it anyway. Just make the trip early.† Sonya didn't look happy about that. â€Å"So I leave the rest of you in danger?† â€Å"Maybe we aren't,† said Eddie, though the tension in his body said otherwise. â€Å"From what Sydney said – and their mini-manifesto – their focus seems to be Strigoi, not Moroi.† He glanced over at Jill. â€Å"Not that we can let our guard down. If they've mistaken Sonya for a Strigoi, who knows what other craziness they might do? Don't worry. I won't let them near you.† Jill looked ready to swoon. â€Å"That's a good idea,† I said. â€Å"They still think the Moroi are a threat but not as much as the Strigoi.† â€Å"Kind of like the Alchemists,† said Adrian. He was sitting in a corner armchair and had been quiet this whole time. I hadn't seen him since the night of the dance or had any communication with him, which was odd. Even when he wasn't sending me pathetic e-mails about the experiments, he almost always had some witty quip to pass along. â€Å"True,† I admitted, with a smile. â€Å"But we're not trying to kill any of you. Not even Strigoi.† â€Å"And there's the problem,† said Dimitri. â€Å"These warriors are convinced Sonya used to be a Strigoi and is using some trick to disguise herself.† â€Å"Maybe they have some tracking or inventory system,† Sonya mused. â€Å"They keep tabs on various Strigoi in the country and then try to hunt them down.† â€Å"And yet they didn't know about you,† I pointed out to Dimitri. His face stayed neutral, but I knew it was hard for him to be reminded of his Strigoi days. â€Å"And from what I know†¦ you were much more of a, um, notable figure than Sonya.† He'd essentially been a Strigoi mobster. â€Å"So, if you're off their radar, they probably don't have an international presence – or at least not a Russian one.† Angeline leaned forward, hands clasped, and regarded Clarence with a smile sweet enough to justify her name. â€Å"How do you know about them? How did you first run into them?† At first, he looked too terrified to answer, but I think her kindly attitude soothed him. â€Å"Well, they killed my niece, of course.† We all knew Lee had killed Clarence's niece, but the old man didn't believe this any more than he believed Lee was dead. â€Å"Did you see them when they did it?† asked Angeline. â€Å"Did you ever see them at all?† â€Å"Not when Tamara died, no,† he admitted. His eyes got a faraway look, as though he were staring straight into the past. â€Å"But I knew what signs to look for. I'd run into them before that, you see. Back when I was living in Santa Cruz. They like California, you know. And the Southwest. Goes back to their sun fixation.† â€Å"What happened in Santa Cruz?† asked Dimitri. â€Å"A group of their young ones began stalking me. Trying to kill me.† The rest of us exchanged glances. â€Å"So they do go after Moroi,† said Eddie. He actually moved closer to Jill. Clarence shook his head. â€Å"Not usually. From what Marcus told me, they prefer Strigoi. These were young, undisciplined members of their order going off on their own, without the knowledge of their superiors. I assume it was the same type who killed Tamara.† â€Å"Who's Marcus?† I asked. â€Å"Marcus Finch. He saved me from them a few years ago. Fended them off during an attack and later got in touch with their order to keep those ruffians away from me.† Clarence shivered at the memory. â€Å"Not that I stayed around after that. I took Lee and left. That was when we moved to Los Angeles for a while.† â€Å"This Marcus,† I said. â€Å"Was he a guardian?† â€Å"A human. He was about your age then. He knew all about the hunters.† â€Å"I suppose he would if he got in touch with them,† Dimitri speculated. â€Å"But he must be friendly to Moroi if he helped you?† â€Å"Oh, yes,† said Clarence. â€Å"Very much so.† Dimitri looked over at me. â€Å"Do you think – â€Å" â€Å"Yes,† I said, guessing his question. â€Å"I'll see if we can find this Marcus guy. It'd be nice to get a source of info that's not one of these crazy warriors. I'm also going to report on all of this, actually.† â€Å"Me too,† said Dimitri. Although Clarence wasn't the expert on the hunters that this mysterious Marcus was, the old Moroi still had a surprising amount of info to share – info none of us had wanted to hear before. He verified what we'd already deduced, about the hunters' â€Å"devotion to the light.† The group's focus was Strigoi (for now), and all of their hunts were carefully planned and organized. They had a ritualized set of behaviors, particularly in regard to their younger members – which was why the rogue group harassing Clarence had been stopped. From what Clarence had gathered, the group was quite tough on their new recruits, emphasizing discipline and excellence. With the clock ticking down on Angeline's reprieve, we needed to wrap things up shortly thereafter. I was also in charge of taking Adrian home, since we figured it'd be best to eliminate any chance of Dimitri being followed back to Clarence's. Besides, I could tell Dimitri was anxious to begin putting certain things in motion. He wanted to finalize Sonya's departure and also confer with the guardians – in case Jill needed to be removed. Her face reflected what I felt about that possible outcome. We'd both become attached to Amberwood. While he was giving some last-minute instructions to Eddie, I pulled Sonya aside for a quiet word. â€Å"I†¦ I've been thinking about something,† I told her. She studied me carefully, probably reading my aura and other body language. â€Å"What is it?† she asked. â€Å"If you want†¦ if you really want it, you can have some of my blood.† It was a huge, huge admission. Was it something I wanted to do? No. Absolutely not. I still had the same instinctive fears about giving my blood to Moroi, even for scientific purposes. And yet, yesterday's events – and even the alley attack – had begun making me re-analyze my worldview. Vampires weren't the only monsters out there. They were hardly monsters at all, especially next to these vampire hunters. How could I judge the enemy on race? I was being reminded more and more that humans were just as capable as vampires of evil – and that vampires were capable of good. It was actions that mattered, and Sonya and Dimitri's were noble ones. They were fighting to destroy the ultimate evil of all, and as squeamish as I felt about giving my blood, I knew the right thing was to help them. Sonya knew what a sacrifice this was for me. Her face stayed calm – no whoops of joy – and she nodded solemnly. â€Å"I have my collection kit here. I can take a sample before you leave, if you're sure.† So soon? Well, why not. It was best to get it over with – especially if Sonya would be leaving town soon anyway. We did it in the kitchen, which seemed slightly more sanitary than the living room. Sonya was no doctor, but whatever training she'd had, it was right in line with what I'd observed when getting physicals. Antiseptic, gloves, a new syringe. All the right procedures were followed, and after a quick poke of the needle, she had my blood sample. â€Å"Thank you, Sydney,† she said, handing me a plastic bandage. â€Å"I know how difficult this must have been for you. Believe me, this could really help us.† â€Å"I want to help,† I told her. â€Å"I really do.† She smiled. â€Å"I know. And we need all the help we can get. After being one of them†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Her smile faded. â€Å"Well, I believe more than ever that their evil needs to be stopped. You might be the key.† For one second, her words inspired me – that I might somehow play a greater role in the fight against evil and possibly even stop it. Immediately, that thought was replaced by my old panic. No. No. I wasn't special. I didn't want to be. I would make a good faith effort to help, but surely nothing would come of it. I returned to fetch the others. Adrian and Jill were having some earnest conversation in the corner. Eddie and Angeline were also talking, and I overheard her say, â€Å"I'll stay with Jill more at school, just to be safe. We can't have her be part of some accident or mistaken identity.† Eddie nodded and looked impressed that she'd suggested it. â€Å"Agreed.† Amazing, I thought. I left soon with my carpool and swung by downtown to drop Adrian off. As I pulled up in front of his building, I saw something that made my jaw drop. Awe and disbelief rolled through me. In what was probably the most ungraceful parking job I'd ever done in my life, I brought Latte to an abrupt stop and was out of the car the second I pulled my keys from the ignition. The others followed moments later. â€Å"What,† I breathed. â€Å"Is that?† â€Å"Oh,† said Adrian casually. â€Å"That's my new car.† I took a few steps forward and then stopped, afraid to approach it in the same way someone hesitated before royalty. â€Å"It's a 1967 Ford Mustang convertible,† I said, knowing my eyes were probably bugging out of my face. I began walking around it. â€Å"The year they did a major overhaul and increased the size to keep up with other high-powered competition. See? It's the first model with the concave tail lights but the last to have the Ford block lettering up front until 1974.† â€Å"What in the world is that color?† asked Eddie, not sounding impressed at all. â€Å"Springtime Yellow,† Adrian and I said in unison. â€Å"I would've guessed Lemon Chiffon,† said Eddie. â€Å"Maybe you can get it repainted.† â€Å"No!† I exclaimed. I tossed my purse over onto the grass and carefully touched the car's side. Brayden's beautiful new Mustang suddenly seemed so ordinary. â€Å"It's been touched up, obviously, but this is a classic color. Which engine code is this? C, right?† â€Å"Um†¦ not sure,† said Adrian. â€Å"I know it's got a V-8 engine.† â€Å"Of course it does,† I said. It was hard not to roll my eyes. â€Å"A 289. I want to know what the horsepower is.† â€Å"It's probably in the paperwork,† Adrian said lamely. It was at that moment that I really processed Adrian's earlier words. I looked up at him, knowing my face must be filled with disbelief. â€Å"This is really your car?† â€Å"Yup,† he said. â€Å"I told you. The old man spotted me the money for one.† â€Å"And you got this one?† I peered in through the window. â€Å"Nice. Black interior, manual transmission.† â€Å"Yeah,† said Adrian, a note of unease in his voice. â€Å"That's the problem.† I glanced back. â€Å"What is? The black is great. And the leather's condition is fantastic. So is the rest of the car.† â€Å"No, not the interior. The transmission. I can't drive a stick.† I froze. â€Å"You can't drive a stick?† â€Å"Neither can I,† said Jill. â€Å"You don't have a license,† I reminded her. Although, my mother had taught me to drive before I had a license – both automatic and manual transmission. I knew I shouldn't be surprised the stick was a lost art, as savage as such a lack seemed to me. That paled, of course, in comparison to the other obvious problem. â€Å"Why on earth would you buy a car like this if you can't drive a stick? There are dozens of cars – new cars – that have automatic transmission. It'd be a million times easier.† Adrian shrugged. â€Å"I like the color. It matches my living room.† Eddie snorted. â€Å"But you can't drive it,† I pointed out. â€Å"I figure it can't be that hard.† Adrian sounded remarkably unconcerned about what I found blasphemous. â€Å"I'll just practice taking it around the block a few times and figure it out.† I couldn't believe what I was hearing. â€Å"What? Are you out of your mind? You'll ruin it if you don't know what you're doing!† â€Å"What else am I supposed to do?† he asked. â€Å"Are you going to teach me?† I turned back to the beautiful Mustang. â€Å"Yes,† I said adamantly. â€Å"If that's what it takes to save it from you.† â€Å"I can show you too,† said Eddie. Adrian ignored him and focused on me. â€Å"When we can start?† I ran through my school schedule, knowing I'd have to make talking to the Alchemists about the Warriors of Light my top priority. Then, the obvious hit me. â€Å"Oh. When we see Wolfe this week. We'll take this out there.† â€Å"Is that really to help me?† asked Adrian. â€Å"Or do you just want to drive the car?† â€Å"Both,† I said, not embarrassed to admit it. Angeline's clock at school was ticking, so the rest of us had to leave. I'd driven three blocks away when I realized I'd left my purse on the grass. With a groan, I looped around and returned to his building. My purse was there, but the Mustang was gone. â€Å"Where's the car?† I asked, panicked. â€Å"No one could have stolen it that fast.† â€Å"Oh,† said Jill from the backseat, sounding slightly nervous. â€Å"I saw through the bond. He, um, moved it.† It was handy having the bond as a source of information, but her words made me panic more than if the car actually had been stolen. â€Å"He what?† â€Å"Not far,† she said quickly. â€Å"Just behind the building. This street's got weird overnight parking rules.† I grimaced. â€Å"Well, I'm glad it won't get towed, but he should've had me move it! Even if it's not far, he could ruin the transmission.† â€Å"I'm sure it's fine,† said Jill. There was a strange note to her voice. I didn't respond. Jill was no car expert. None of them were. â€Å"It's like letting a toddler loose in a room full of china,† I muttered. â€Å"What was he thinking? About any of this?† No one had an answer for that. I got us back to Amberwood in time for Angeline's curfew and retreated to the sanity and calm of my room. As soon as I was satisfied my friends were safe and secure for the night, I e-mailed Donna Stanton – a high-up Alchemist whom I'd inexplicably developed a good relationship with – about the hunters and what we'd learned. I even took pictures of the pamphlet and e-mailed those as well. Once that was done, I sat back and tried to think if there was anything else at all I could provide her with that might help. It was only when I'd exhausted all options (and refreshed my inbox a few times to see if she'd responded already) that I finally moved on to homework. As usual, I was pretty much caught up on every assignment – save one. Ms. Terwilliger's. That stupid book was on my desk, staring back at me, daring me to open it. I still had a number of days before her spell was due, time during which I could continue to procrastinate. I was beginning to accept, however, that this assignment wasn't going to go away. Considering how long some of the prep on these took, maybe it'd be best to bite the bullet and get it out of the way. Resolved, I brought the book over to my bed and opened it to the table of contents, scanning some of the spells she'd gone over with me. My stomach twisted at most of them, every instinct telling me how wrong it was to even be attempting these. Magic is for vampires, not humans. I still believed that to be true, but the analytical part of my mind couldn't help but apply some of the defensive spells to various situations. Much like my decision to give blood, recent events had made me look at the world differently. Was magic wrong? Yes. But that blindness spell would have certainly been useful in the alley. Another spell, one that temporarily immobilized people, could've been used if I'd wanted to flee from the hunters at the cafe. Sure, it only lasted thirty seconds, but that was more than enough time for me to have escaped. On and on, I went down the list. They were all so wrong and yet†¦ so useful. If I hadn't seen the fire charm I'd made ignite a Strigoi, I wouldn't have believed any of these were possible. But by all accounts, they were. So much power†¦ the ability to protect myself†¦ Immediately, I rebuked myself for such a thought. I had no need for power. That kind of thinking was what led freaks like Liam to want to be Strigoi. Although†¦ was it really the same? I didn't want immortality. I didn't want to hurt others. I just wanted to protect myself and those I cared about. Wolfe had a lot to teach me, but his preventative techniques wouldn't help if determined vampire hunters cornered Sonya and me again. As time went on, it was becoming clear that the hunters were very determined. I returned to the table of contents, finding several that would be useful and well within my capabilities to make. According to Ms. Terwilliger, someone like me had excellent potential for magic because of inborn talent (which I didn't entirely believe) and the rigorous Alchemist training in measurement and attention to detail. It wasn't difficult to figure out how long it would take me to produce any of these likely candidates. The question was which spell did I make? Which did I have time to make? The answer was eerily simple. I had time to make all of them.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Free Essays on Heart Song Of Charging Elk

Charging Elk, â€Å"Friend or Foe?† Culture is always important to groups and societies. Throughout Heartsong of Charging Elk, Welch emphasized the point about culture and assimilation and what life is like on the other side. People are very ethnocentric and feel only their ways are the right ways. This book showed Charging Elk as an outsider who learned to live in the new ways of this society even though that wasn’t part of who he was, but eventually made him who he is. Culture and traditions are key in the heart and soul of Charging Elk. From the beginning of his journey in Marsielle, he was very content about finding is way home. He wanted to be reunited with his people and their way of life. He dealt with a lot of communication barriers in this foreign town. No one knew his language or who he was, nor did he know anything about theirs. I think that as much as he wanted to stay strong in his Indian attributes, he was forced to conform to this new society and the ways he was now trapped in. He was treated as nothing more than a savage or a foreigner. He wanted to be home again but as circumstances had it, he was given to the Soula’s where he slowly changed who he was. He had his hair cut short and was given new clothes. He went to work like them, dressed like them, and I felt that he was given no credit for who he was as a person nor was he allowed to really hold the values that were true to him. As time went on I don’t think he had any other choice but to try and become one of them or at least to look like he belonged. I think the author was saying a lot about how a society works and how they can thread in those that don’t belong. I don’t think it’s because they are welcoming those who are different but they engulf them with so many cultural standards that their choices are made for them. Had Charging Elk knew enough about the language and culture their he might have made it home, but in the end I don’t think thatï ¿ ½... Free Essays on Heart Song Of Charging Elk Free Essays on Heart Song Of Charging Elk Charging Elk, â€Å"Friend or Foe?† Culture is always important to groups and societies. Throughout Heartsong of Charging Elk, Welch emphasized the point about culture and assimilation and what life is like on the other side. People are very ethnocentric and feel only their ways are the right ways. This book showed Charging Elk as an outsider who learned to live in the new ways of this society even though that wasn’t part of who he was, but eventually made him who he is. Culture and traditions are key in the heart and soul of Charging Elk. From the beginning of his journey in Marsielle, he was very content about finding is way home. He wanted to be reunited with his people and their way of life. He dealt with a lot of communication barriers in this foreign town. No one knew his language or who he was, nor did he know anything about theirs. I think that as much as he wanted to stay strong in his Indian attributes, he was forced to conform to this new society and the ways he was now trapped in. He was treated as nothing more than a savage or a foreigner. He wanted to be home again but as circumstances had it, he was given to the Soula’s where he slowly changed who he was. He had his hair cut short and was given new clothes. He went to work like them, dressed like them, and I felt that he was given no credit for who he was as a person nor was he allowed to really hold the values that were true to him. As time went on I don’t think he had any other choice but to try and become one of them or at least to look like he belonged. I think the author was saying a lot about how a society works and how they can thread in those that don’t belong. I don’t think it’s because they are welcoming those who are different but they engulf them with so many cultural standards that their choices are made for them. Had Charging Elk knew enough about the language and culture their he might have made it home, but in the end I don’t think thatï ¿ ½...

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Atomic Bomb1 essays

Atomic Bomb1 essays The use of the atomic bombs on Japan was necessary for the revenge of the Americans. These bombs took years to make due to a problematic equation. The impact of the bombs killed hundreds of thousands of people and the radiation is still killing people today. People today still wonder why the bombs were dropped. If these bombs werent dropped on the Japanese the history of the world would have been changed forever. The Atomic bomb took 6 years to develop (1939-1945) for scientists to work on a equation to make the U-235 into a bomb. The most complicated process in this was trying to produce enough uranium to sustain a chain reaction. The bombs used on the cities cost about $2 billion to develop, this also making the U.S. wanting to use them against Japan. Hiroshima was a major military target and we have spent 2 billion dollars on the greatest scientific gamble in history- and won. (3) The bomb dropped on Hiroshima weighted 4.5 tons and the bomb used on Nagasaki weighted 10 kilotons. On July 16, 1945, the first ever atomic bomb was tested in the Jamez Mountains in Northern New Mexico, code named Gadget. The single weapon ultimately dropped on Hiroshima, nicknamed Little Boy, produced the amount of approximately twenty- thousand tons of TNT, which is roughly seven times greater than all of the bombs dropped by all the allies on all of Germany in 1942. The first Japanese City bomb was Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. An American B-29 bomber, named Enola Gay, flown by the pilot Paul W. Tibbets, dropped the Little Boy uranium atomic bomb. Three days later a second bomb named Fat Boy, made of plutonium was dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. After being released, it took approximately one minute for Little Boy to reach the point of explosion, which was about 2,000 feet. ...

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Canons of Taxation

A good tax system is one which is designed on the basis of an appropriate set of principles (rules). The tax system should strike a balance between the interest of the taxpayer and that of tax authorities. Adam Smith was the first economist to develop a list of Canons of Taxation. These canons are still regarded as characteristics or features of a good tax system. Adam Smith gave following four important canons of taxation. 1. Canon of Equity The principle aims at providing economic and social justice to the people. According to this principle, every person should pay to the government depending upon his ability to pay. The rich class people should pay higher taxes to the government, because without the protection of the government authorities (Police, Defence, etc. ) they could not have earned and enjoyed their income. Adam Smith argued that the taxes should be proportional to income, i. e. , citizens should pay the taxes in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state. 2. Canon of Certainty According to Adam Smith, the tax which an individual has to pay should be certain, not arbitrary. The tax payer should know in advance how much tax he has to pay, at what time he has to pay the tax, and in what form the tax is to be paid to the government. In other words, every tax should satisfy the canon of certainty. At the same time a good tax system also ensures that the government is also certain about the amount that will be collected by way of tax. 3. Canon of Convenience The mode and timing of tax payment should be as far as possible, convenient to the tax payers. For example, land revenue is collected at time of harvest income tax is deducted at source. Convenient tax system will encourage people to pay tax and will increase tax revenue. 4. Canon of Economy This principle states that there should be economy in tax administration. The cost of tax collection should be lower than the amount of tax collected. It may not serve any purpose, if the taxes imposed are widespread but are difficult to administer. Therefore, it would make no sense to impose certain taxes, if it is difficult to administer. Additional Canons of Taxation v Activities and functions of the government have increased significantly since Adam Smiths time. Government are expected to maintain economic stability, full employment, reduce income inequality amp; promote growth and development. Tax system should be such that it meets the requirements of growing state activities. Accordingly, modern economists gave following additional canons of taxation. 5. Canon of Productivity It is also known as the canon of fiscal adequacy. According to this principle, the tax system should be able to yield enough revenue for the treasury and the government should have no need to resort to deficit financing. This is a good principle to follow in a developing economy. 6. Canon of Elasticity According to this canon, every tax imposed by the government should be elastic in nature. In other words, the income from tax should be capable of increasing or decreasing according to the requirement of the country. For example, if the government needs more income at time of crisis, the tax should be capable of yielding more income through increase in its rate. . Canon of Flexibility It should be easily possible for the authorities to revise the tax structure both with respect to its coverage and rates, to suit the changing requirements of the economy. With changing time and conditions the tax system needs to be changed without much difficulty. The tax system must be flexible and not rigid. 8. Canon of Simplicity The tax system shoul d not be complicated. That makes it difficult to understand and administer and results in problems of interpretation and disputes. In India, the efforts of the government in recent years have been to make the system simple. 9. Canon of Diversity This principle states that the government should collect taxes from different sources rather than concentrating on a single source of tax. It is not advisable for the government to depend upon a single source of tax, it may result in inequity to the certain section of the society; uncertainty for the government to raise funds. If the tax revenue comes from diversified source, then any reduction in tax revenue on account of any one cause is bound to be small.

Friday, October 18, 2019

Seminar paper (Sydney Harbour Bridge) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Seminar paper (Sydney Harbour Bridge) - Essay Example of the Sydney Harbour Bridge; and how the author uses the theories of Roland Barthe to explain the depoliticisation, as well as the aura and allure of the bridge. The Sydney Harbour Bridge, opened in March 1932, was a spectacular event in Sydney’s history1. It was one of the major engineering feats of the twentieth century, and is the largest though not the longest one-bow bridge in the world. The construction of the bridge was a remarkable accomplishment in the years of the Great Depression, using labour-intensive technology. The Bridge crosses from Dawes’ Point on the downtown side to Milsons’ Point on the North Shore2. Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to investigate what Carl Hooper means by the ‘depoliticisation’ of the Sydney Harbour Bridge; and how Hooper uses Roland Barthes’ theories to explain this depoliticisation, and the aura and allure of the bridge. harbour†3. A steel deck hangs from the arch, and each side are five steel truss approach spans. The hinges or bearings support the entire weight of the bridge, and allow it to move with expansion and contraction of the bridge, with temperature changes. The Sydney Harbour Bridge was part of the Bradfield Plan, named after the engineer John J.C. Bradfield who conceptualized the detailed and comprehensive plan4. Besides solving Sydney’s transport problems of that time, he foresaw the city’s future transport formulating the plan, he took care to orient the Sydney Harbour Bridge towards the future. There is provision of four railway lines, six-lane roadway for vehicular traffic, and two wide footwalks. â€Å"Adequate transport facilities between the city and Northern suburbs enable 1,000,000 people to reside on the northern side of the Harbour without unduly congesting traffic†5. With a view to overseas developments and their impacts on the local waterway traffic, adequate size of the vessels and ample waterways for the mammoth liners of the future were provided for6. Carl

Complexity Theory Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Complexity Theory - Article Example The chaos approach involves consideration of an overall state of being within the organization, with the state of chaos facilitating the need for change in the business environment or becoming the desired state of an organization to bring about much needed change. Both approaches are considered within the healthcare setting, as well as in the global business expansion realm. Examples of the types of change required for each situation apply the different approaches of chaos and the continuum. Defining Complexity Theory Complexity theory is based on the principle that various processes within a business production unit are comprised of tasks, with varying levels or degrees of difficulty. Complex systems are fractal in nature, comprised of complex patterns with similarities, though they may possess varying degrees of complexity (Lindberg et al, 1998). Though Lindberg applies the theory to the healthcare industry, it can easily be adapted to nearly industry or organization with outputs o r processes of production. A comparison of patient management and organizational management is used to explain the theory’s application to healthcare. The complication of treating interacting health care issues is compared to the challenge of administering healthcare in a cost effective manner. Views on Complexity Theory Early supporters of complexity theory explain the phenomenon as a mechanical process that follows a specific cause and effect pattern, such as in disease processes. However, opposing perspectives suggest that the processes are made up of a combination of complex activities and the combination of various facets is what makes a system complex. In such a view, healthcare is a complex system in itself, made up of challenges in addressing patient health issues, challenges in the administration of healthcare and challenges in preparing healthcare providers to care for an increasingly diverse population. It is the degree of challenge or difficulty in addressing each of these areas of the industry that drives innovation, or new ways of delivery within the system. The Continuum Approach Complexity is explained as existing on a continuum between chaos and stability. All complex systems go through change, which, at times, pushes those systems toward the brink of chaos and away from stability. This explanation is applicable to many industries and types of businesses struggling to find their way in a global environment. To do so often requires change, or adapting new ways of looking at the business environment. Often change disrupts the methods and current strategies used by an organization. However, when an organization faces change or develops a change strategy, a means of greater contribution from each member of the organization is created. In the more stable environment, there is less contribution, as everyone exists in more of a state of complacency. Complexity and Change If complexity theory relates to change, then it makes sense to assume tha t the more change is needed within the organization, the more complex the system becomes. Greater contributions from a variety of sources make the change process inherently more complex. In the health care setting, just as in any other business environment, some problems or issues do not require complexity. A patient having a mole removed expects little, in terms of the unknown. The procedure and results

Sacred place Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Sacred place - Research Paper Example Consider the difference between a contemporary Catholic Church and the traditional sacred places indicated in the Holy Bible. Sacred places have been part of human life as proven by history. They serve as houses for religious rituals and places for professing beliefs. They cater the traditions that take care of the morality of mankind through ages. Also as the time passed by, various changes happened in the world and sacred places also evolved together with the modernization and civilization of men (Olsen, 2000). Normally religions make use of a guide book that they consider holy or a book that contains the Truth or message of supernatural beings. Usually myths or stories are seen in the book of each religion and later on during the ceremony of the faithful, a certain spiritual leader reads and explains the stories and myths in the book. It is done for the cleansing of the soul as all religions address the concept of spirit or the spiritual nature of human beings (Nye, 2004). In relation to rituals and the history, sacred places change in terms of structure. Ancient sacred places are usually one with nature like mountains, caves, piled stone or near trees and river. Ancient people also built temples for rituals and for communication improvement of the soul with the humanity. As the time goes by, the old temples and natural sacred places are replaced by religious centers located in the cities and buildings (Olsen, 2000). A good example is the Catholic Church and its origin can be traced back from Judaism, a religion in Israel and Jerusalem. Jerusalem is considered as the City of God as verses of several books in the Holy Bible show. Other sacred places of the religion are Mt. Sinai, Rome and places that are not physically visible today like Heaven and Garden of Eden (Holm and Boker, 1994). In order for the believers to understand the message of God, religious centers called churches are built where the members of the religion can practice

Thursday, October 17, 2019

About sales people as employee performance Essay

About sales people as employee performance - Essay Example between employee performance and sales people I would have the chance to check the differences in the form of the above relationship, as appeared in markets worldwide. In other words, I could evaluate the current potentials of employee performance to influence sales people, and vice versa. Current training course has been related to a series of problems. At the first level, not all students are aware of all aspects of employee performance. In this way, delays appear in different phases of the courses. At the same time, existing material related to employee performance is vast. Identifying the material referring solely to sales people takes more time than estimated, a fact that will necessarily affect the progress of the course. The instructions used in the particular course will be aligned with the course’s theme. Emphasis will be laid upon the review of material that is appropriate for understanding the course’s subject. Emphasis will be also given on the development of examinations for checking the progress of learners. Examinations will be based on exercises related to the course’s key issues and its sub-issues. Instructions should be available online, in the school’s website, so that participants are able to check the progress of their exercise, without the intervention of a third person. My instructional strategy would have two different characteristics: it will be interactive, available through the Internet for review, and b) direct instruction. In addition, a different instructional strategy can be used anytime for evaluating the performance of sales people as employee performance. The course will be divided into 8 sections; each section will focus on the examination of a particular issue of employee performance. The relationship between employee performance and sales people will be also analyzed. The schedule will be structured as follows: five sections will refer to employee performance; the sections, during which the relationship between

Code of Ethics Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Code of Ethics Paper - Essay Example (Donaldson, 2005) Section 54.1 Disclosure of Confidential Information Prohibited., Section 68: Retention of Clients records, Section 68.5 Audit Documentation Retention and Destruction Policy are the policies that when violated can lead to criminal or vivil accountant liabilities. The controversy involving powerful institutions has made an immense impact in the corporate world leading to their downfall and the implementation of stringent laws of the government. Enron and Arthur Andersen faced the collapse of their careers which affected the industry and the birth of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The largest bankruptcy in history marked the existence of fraudulent accounting procedures by Enron and Arthur Andersen in 2001. the once blue chip stock ended up to be valued for small meager amounts. Most of Enron’s profits were from transactions with controlled limited partnerships which turned into debts that were not reported on its financial statements The economic implications of the Enron case included the accounting industry’s review of their financial policies with the fear of having the same fate as Enron. Other companies who also used the same aggressive accounting methods as Enron have been affected. They steered away from the limelight and have seemed to have lay-low for the meantime while the issues are still steaming.. The existence of corporate fraud was verified by the emergence of the Enron case. With this, President George W Bush enacted a new law which targets the detection and prevention of company fraud. The US Pension regulations underwent scrutiny when it was found out that the worker of Enron lost a huge amount of money due to their pensions scheme being invested largely in Enron’s own stocks. The accounting profession tried to reconsider its structure and policies to be able to take notes of those that need to

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Sacred place Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Sacred place - Research Paper Example Consider the difference between a contemporary Catholic Church and the traditional sacred places indicated in the Holy Bible. Sacred places have been part of human life as proven by history. They serve as houses for religious rituals and places for professing beliefs. They cater the traditions that take care of the morality of mankind through ages. Also as the time passed by, various changes happened in the world and sacred places also evolved together with the modernization and civilization of men (Olsen, 2000). Normally religions make use of a guide book that they consider holy or a book that contains the Truth or message of supernatural beings. Usually myths or stories are seen in the book of each religion and later on during the ceremony of the faithful, a certain spiritual leader reads and explains the stories and myths in the book. It is done for the cleansing of the soul as all religions address the concept of spirit or the spiritual nature of human beings (Nye, 2004). In relation to rituals and the history, sacred places change in terms of structure. Ancient sacred places are usually one with nature like mountains, caves, piled stone or near trees and river. Ancient people also built temples for rituals and for communication improvement of the soul with the humanity. As the time goes by, the old temples and natural sacred places are replaced by religious centers located in the cities and buildings (Olsen, 2000). A good example is the Catholic Church and its origin can be traced back from Judaism, a religion in Israel and Jerusalem. Jerusalem is considered as the City of God as verses of several books in the Holy Bible show. Other sacred places of the religion are Mt. Sinai, Rome and places that are not physically visible today like Heaven and Garden of Eden (Holm and Boker, 1994). In order for the believers to understand the message of God, religious centers called churches are built where the members of the religion can practice

Code of Ethics Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Code of Ethics Paper - Essay Example (Donaldson, 2005) Section 54.1 Disclosure of Confidential Information Prohibited., Section 68: Retention of Clients records, Section 68.5 Audit Documentation Retention and Destruction Policy are the policies that when violated can lead to criminal or vivil accountant liabilities. The controversy involving powerful institutions has made an immense impact in the corporate world leading to their downfall and the implementation of stringent laws of the government. Enron and Arthur Andersen faced the collapse of their careers which affected the industry and the birth of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The largest bankruptcy in history marked the existence of fraudulent accounting procedures by Enron and Arthur Andersen in 2001. the once blue chip stock ended up to be valued for small meager amounts. Most of Enron’s profits were from transactions with controlled limited partnerships which turned into debts that were not reported on its financial statements The economic implications of the Enron case included the accounting industry’s review of their financial policies with the fear of having the same fate as Enron. Other companies who also used the same aggressive accounting methods as Enron have been affected. They steered away from the limelight and have seemed to have lay-low for the meantime while the issues are still steaming.. The existence of corporate fraud was verified by the emergence of the Enron case. With this, President George W Bush enacted a new law which targets the detection and prevention of company fraud. The US Pension regulations underwent scrutiny when it was found out that the worker of Enron lost a huge amount of money due to their pensions scheme being invested largely in Enron’s own stocks. The accounting profession tried to reconsider its structure and policies to be able to take notes of those that need to

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Developing Concept of the Restaurant Essay Example for Free

Developing Concept of the Restaurant Essay Restaurants plays a significant role in our lifestyle, and dining out is a favourite social activity. Everyone needs to eat, to enjoy good food and, perhaps, a wine in the company of friends and in pleasant surroundings is one of life’s pleasures. Eating out has become a way of life for families. Nowadays, a buoyant economy has given us higher disposable incomes, which allows more meals away from home. The restaurant business is fun. A lot of people coming and going, lots of new faces and never get lonely. The business is always challenging because other restaurant owners are striving to attract our guests but with the right location, menu, atmosphere, and management, it continues to attract the market. The successful restaurant offers a high return on investment, one restaurant, then two, perhaps a small chain and then retire wealthy. There are more than hundreds of restaurants in Bhutan and each year few restaurants open and few close or other just fades away. People contemplating opening a restaurant come from diverse backgrounds and bring with them a wealth of experience. However, there is no substitute for experience in the restaurant business especially in the segment in which we are planning to operate. Read more:  Essays About Restaurant Review   Developing a Concept The Star restaurant will be the mid-scale restaurant which is owned by Mr. Thinley in Thimphu at Dechencholing. It will be at very reasonable price ranging from Nu.75-2000. The restaurant will feature mostly the chicken-made dishes. Star restaurant mainly focuses on the interior design of the restaurant. The restaurant will offer a dine-in buffet, carryout and delivery to the surrounding neighbourhoods and area businesses. Also its location will give the guests a beautiful and pleasant environment. Its speciality is that it is mainly targets the celebrities so everyone can meet their own favourite celebrity. While preparation of the guests’ order, the latest songs will be played and in having their meal acoustic music of jazz will be played so they can relish their mind. The furniture used will be in the shape of the star with a background colour of black. The floor carpet will be in the shape of the stars twinkling in the night. The ceiling will be the 2D image of the stars. My Restaurant The Star restaurant will be about 2-Storeyed with a mission stated below: Mission: The Star restaurant is a great place to eat, combining an intriguing atmosphere with excellent, interesting food. The mission is not only to have great tasting food, but have efficient and friendly service because customer satisfaction is paramount. We want to be the restaurant choice for all families and singles, young and old, male or female. Employee welfare will be equally important to our success. Everyone will be treated fairly and with the utmost respect. Happy employees make happy guests. We will combine menu variety, atmosphere, ambiance, special theme nights and a friendly staff to create a sense of place in order to reach our goal of overall value in the dining/entertainment experience. We want fair profits for the owners and a reward. Feasibility study Location: Location is a primary goal in running a business like services industry. The star restaurant’s location is in Dechencholing, Thimphu Bhutan. The Starr Restaurant will be located at the top of the palace where the parking is available with a clear sign board .The disposal income of the resident is not that much higher but they love to dine out. With the modernization, Dechencholing is now town plan B. And the population is accelerating as Royal Body Guards increases year by year. Their trend as of now is that they love eating and their children love to visit discotheque. Location of the Star Restaurant is more convenient for the people of the Dechencholing to visit as it will be connected with the road. Market: The market is a fundamental for the operations of the restaurant without market it is same like season without winter. As of now there is no restaurant that offers what guests’ demand. There are some restaurant that is of low quality and mostly those restaurant offers beverages and fast food like pizza, Chana and Samosa etc. So if the Star restaurant is operating in Dechencholing, it will be a monopoly and it will be of high quality that satisfies what guest demand. Competition: Business without competition will take advantage of offering poor quality with a high price. Competition occurs when two or more organizations act independently to supply their products to the same group of consumers. So there is no similar restaurant that offers the services like the Star restaurant. Only thing is if the pricing is high people of that place will not come to the Star restaurant. If not there is no competitor but in the future it might occur. Trends of locality: The current trend of the Dechencholing people is that they go to the main town to enjoy a meal from the restaurant, to have fun, to celebrate birthdays and so on. Also the monks from Tango monastery and Pangri Zampa go to the main town to enjoy their meal. The royal bodyguards go to the main town to dine out with their families. So the Star restaurant will solve those problems by offering better services than the restaurants in the town areas.